PHOTO EXHIBIT: ANDRES SERRANO March 1-14, Gallery Kalfayan

The artist, born in 1950 in New York, became famous in a single day in 1988, when senator Alphonse d' Amato tore up one of his works on the floor of the American Senate. This act sparked the so-called "Art Wars", a loud confrontation that divided American public opinion as to the limits of free expression and state funding of the arts.

Andres Serrano is not an artist who only wishes to shock. "In my work, I try to discover the normal and the strange and vice versa", he confesses, demonstrating the dialectic at the heart of his photographs. His subjects span religion, death, life and sex and his continuous critique on them. Their depiction is as immediate as it is possible for it to be. Their composition on the other hand, is characterized by a strong classical esthetic. The result is unusual, as his images can be characterized as "pornographic" or "blasphemous", but are presented according to the rules of classical European art. This dialogue between the taboo and the academic transforms Serrano's work into an existential experience, political and to some, shocking.

Alongside the exhibition, the 5th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival will be screening the film A History of Sex by Michael Coulter, which documents step by step the creation of the artist's series of photographs of the same name, parts of which will be featured in the exhibition. Besides works from the series "A History of Sex", the exhibit will include works from the series "Nomads" and Serrano's latest work "Interpretation of Dreams".

The work of famous American photographer Andres Serrano is presented for the first time in Greece, in a solo exhibition which will last for two weeks (March 1-14) at the Gallery Kalfayan. The exhibition will be curated by Vangelis Ioakimides.

ENTRANCE TO THE EXHIBITION WILL NOT BE PERMITTED
TO THOSE UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE.